With an estimated 30,000 offshore jobs coming to the Gulf of Mexico over the next few years, Louisiana is jumping ahead of the curve and organizing a singular program to meet the demand.

The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association; Louisiana Economic Development; Louisiana Workforce Commission; University of Louisiana System and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System are partnering to create a curriculum and certification program aimed at deep-water exploration and production.

Representatives from each entity signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday, agreeing to provide support in recruitment, curriculum development, general advisory, status reports and financial sources for training.

"We started well over a year ago putting this together, and we're here today to start the process which outlines how the public and private partnership that will aimed to better equip tomorrow's off-shore workers in today's classrooms," LMOGA President Chris John said at a Thursday afternoon news conference in Baton Rouge.

"The future of the Gulf of Mexico is bright and our members came to me, and said we're ready to invest," John said. "Many of (my) companies were not only worried about today, but they were certainly worried about the coming years."

LMOGA has more than 100 oil and gas companies among its members, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell.

John says over the next 10 years, nearly 40 percent of the current Gulf of Mexico workforce will retire.

"It made a lot of the industry (pubs) very nervous that we had to do something and do something very quickly," John said.

Administrators from the Fletcher Technical Community College, Nicholls State University and South Central Louisiana Community College, will work together with private companies to develop a specific curriculum tailor made for the oil and gas industry.

"That curriculum could be some science, technology and math," John said. "It's going to be focus onto what is going in the technical training they will need for the machinery out in the Gulf of Mexico."

Earl Meador, chancellor of Fletcher technical community college in Houma, says students are already graduating with many of the skills needed to perform offshore jobs but as the new program develops, Fletcher, along with NSU and SCLTCC just need to fine-tune its curriculum to meet workforce needs.

John says there are about 40 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and an estimated 30 more platforms, coming to the area over the next few years.

"We're talking about a lot of need that obviously can't be absorbed today in the system but that what this MOU is to go out and find out and see what you're workforce is going to be," John said.

The cost of the new program has yet to be determined, as the MOU does not implicate any entity to commit to any money.

To this point, the state's role has been on an advisory level. The LED has sat in on many meetings to develop the multi-group partnership.

"They're there to give us some advice because they do this everyday," John said. "They are a valuable partner in this to give us the state's perspective of what the state can provide, both from advice, capital, or whatever investment is needed as we move further down the road."

However, John says there will be costs involved. "There are going to be needs for more professors, better professors teaching these classes, and infrastructure needs," he said.

John says Thursday's MOU was motivated by an agreement between BP, FTCC and the state in March. BP, which was in need of workers, invested $4 million, and the state put up $4 million, creating a new offshore training facility.

"Why should just one company do this, we should have the whole industry doing this," John said, referencing the BP deal.

John says the private industry will be willing to shoulder much of the cost, if they are a part of putting the curriculum together.

"It is advantageous for them to participate at some point and time," John said. "If we do our job properly and we are showing a product to the industry, they are going to be way willing to participate as we move on."